The Girl in the Mountain
by DreamRiderGirl
Summary: When Mystique Sonia finds an old legend, she realizes that it prophecies the return of the legend's villain, Shadow Moon. But is the legend true, Or simply a fairytale. Bad summary, don't hate me.
1. Chapter 1

_Once upon a time, in the mysterious land of Hidden Kingdom there lived two siblings who together ruled the sky. To do this, the elder brother used his magical powers to raise the sun at dawn, while the sister used hers to bring forth the night. Thus, they created harmony throughout the land. _

_But as time went on, the younger sister grew resentful, for the humans and animals that worked and played in her brother's day hid and slept through her beautiful night. _

_One fateful day, she refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. Her brother tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked girl of darkness- Shadow __Moon. She vowed to shroud the kingdom in eternal night. _

_Regretfully, the elder brother used the most powerful artifacts in the world… the Elements of Order. Wielding them, he defeated his younger sister and banished her to the tallest mountain, Mt. Hima. _

_The brother then took on responsibilities for the sun and the moon, and order has been maintained throughout Hidden Kingdom ever since._

"Hmm… Elements of Order," Mystique Sonia said to herself. "I know I've heard that somewhere before. But where?"

**Hey guys! Yes, I'm alive. I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I currently have writer's block on Lightning's Sister. But I felt like I had to publish ****_something _****so I did this. It's been in my head for a while now, so I'm finally getting it out. Hope you like it and please r&amp;r!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, guys, seriously. PLEASE review. It lets me know I'm doing a good job and keeps me going. But you not reviewing after this being up for I-don't-know-how-long kinda hurts. SO REVIEW!**

**Side note: Underlined text is Yaksha speak. Since I assume Mystique Sonia can understand Yaksha, I will give you my translation. Your welcome.**

Sonia ran through the campsite. It had been a year since the final battle with Twinmasters, and the heroes of Big Green had never gotten around to rebuilding their base and home. The main reason was that everyone was too busy. The animal kings had their kingdoms to rule, and there were always some lawbreakers that tried to make trouble. As a result, the residents lived in tents rather than separate rooms. Not everyone liked it, but Apetrully made it clear that the safety and harmony of Hidden Kingdom came first.

_Or order, _thought Sonia. _The Elements of Order._ Fortunately, some books had been spared from the destruction, and Woo kept them safe in his makeshift library. _Let's just hope the book I need wasn't destroyed; that is if we ever had it._

She raced into the library. It was empty, but that was fine by her. "Let's see here…no…no…no…ugh! Where is it!?"

Here.

"That's it! Where did you find it?"

Under E.

"Oh. Ok, let's see here. Elements of Order… ah ha! Elements of Order! See 'The Girl in the Mountain?'"

But that's just a fairytale.

Sonia read aloud. "'The Girl in the Mountain. The image of a human, said to be female, imprinted on Mt. Hima. Some claim that it is the prison of Shadow Moon, a corrupted girl who tried to take over the land and killed 9 humans and animals. Prophecy states that on the longest day of the tenth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring the night eternal.' The longest day of the tenth year? Oh my gosh, that's today!"

How are you sure? Besides, people claim it's her, but it doesn't mean that's true.

"Don't you remember Yaksha? 10 years ago, she came to power. Humans and animals alike were afraid to even step outside because they feared her. Crops were dying and things were freezing over because she refused to raise the sun. And the books not lying when it said that she killed people. She was _insane_, and we can't let her come back!"

What are we going to do?

Sonia thought for a moment. "We have to tell Lin Chung. If there's anyone who knows what to do, it's him." Lin Chung was currently in Northern Hidden Kingdom, investigating so-called monster attacks. Sonia quickly scribbled a letter and sent it up in purple magic. "Now we wait."

A few minutes later, purple energy burst and a letter floated to the ground. Sonia grinned and picked it up. "'Dear Mystique Sonia…'"


	3. Patience and Love

"'There is more to a woman's life than studying old stories. Therefore, I am putting in you in charge of this year's Summer Sun Celebration. This is a task I am sure you will enjoy. But do not forget your friends. Lin Chung.' I don't believe this!"

He's just looking out for you. Besides, this'll be fun! We are going to do it, right?

"Yes. I'll finish the preparations as fast as I can. Then I'll keep looking for proof that Shadow Moon exists!"

But what about your friends?

"I don't doubt Lin Chung's judgment, but the fate of Hidden Kingdom does not rest on me making friends!"

Can't you at least try?

"We'll see. Right now we need to check out the preparations."

First they came to an open field. "Mr. No-Hands!"

"Hello Mystique Sonia. I hear you're in charge of this year's Summer Sun Celebration."

"I am. What are you doing?"

"I'm getting these birds ready. They sing to signal the sun's arrival. Let's just say I've got my work cut out for me." To demonstrate, the birds presented. It sounded like a mix between a broken record and a screechy microphone.

"That's… original."

"That's putting it lightly. We've been working on it all day."

"But you keep going?"

"There's something to be said about practice, Sonia. They've actually improved a bit. All it takes is a bit of patience."

"Patience, huh?"

"That's right."

"Well, I'll leave you to it. Good luck!"

"Thank you." Just before she left, Sonia could've sworn she saw a hint of a rainbow.

Near the birds Sonia saw her next order of business. A beautiful whirl of color swirled in the air before dispersing into hundreds of butterflies. On the ground, Jumpy Ghostface laughed and clapped. "They're beautiful, Jumpy!" He laughed again. "They also signal the sun, don't they? How'd you get them into perfect harmony?"

"Jumpy…love butterflies. Butterflies…love Jumpy. Understand…each other."

"So you basically think the same because of your attraction for each other?"

"Yes."

"That's so cool! Keep at it!" He laughed and hopped again. And Sonia was sure she saw the reflection of a rainbow…


	4. Fairness and Respect

Next was the Weighing of the Gifts. Every year, people of Hidden Kingdom gave gifts of food, gold, and other treasures to the Sun Guardian. Every year the gifts were weighed to see that they were equal. Just to make sure that everyone was giving their fair share. Sonia found Archer Lee in charge. "I didn't know that you did this part."

"I didn't know that you were in charge."

"I am. How are things looking?"

"Pretty good so far. We only had one mishap. One farmer thought that his neighbor wasn't giving enough, but it turned out that he had just enough. They went out arm in arm."

"That's good. I'm glad it got sorted out."

"Fairness is one of the world's stabilizers."

"I guess so. See you later!" What was that light glinting off the scales?

Then there were the Visiting Nobles. They came to pay their respects to the Sun Guardian and rising sun. It was part of their duties. However, they commanded a lot of respect. So Mystique Sonia was surprised to see Hurricane Lee greeting them. "What are you doing here?"

"Meeting the nobles. What does it look like?" As she watched, she saw that Hurricane was actually very polite. It seemed very contradictory to his usual personality.

"Since when did you become a gentleman?"

"I don't do this often. But these guys need to be impressed. It gives Big Green a good image, you know? I can give respect where it's due. Even to these people."

"Huh. Talk about everything's not what it seems."

"Well, tell anyone and I'll deny the whole thing."

"Got it. See ya!" She paused momentarily to admire one of the ladies' multi-colored bracelet.


	5. Hope and Courage

**_IT'S BEEN NEARLY A YEAR!? _****I am so, so sorry! Time flies when you have writer's block! I'll try to do better from now on. Thanks to all who have reviewed!**

The next thing on the list was to check on the stage decoration. When the time came, the Sun Guardian would step onstage and raise the sun. She had heard it was a spectacle to behold. Naturally, the stage had to look just right. She imagined flowers of every kind, flowing ribbons, marble pedestals, and… kids?

Sonia blinked, and saw that she had seen correctly. Children were running around, giggling. What's more, they were carrying around pieces of paper, each with some kind of drawing on it. She was confused, but then she saw Kowloon. "Do you have any idea what's going on here?"

The warrior shrugged. "Apetrully thought it would be nice if the kids got in on some of the decorating. So they all drew something, and they're going to hang it up near the stage."

"Wow, that's-" She stopped short when she a heard a sniffle. Looking behind her, she saw a little girl holding a drawing and crying. "What's wrong?"

"Some of the other kids said that my picture's terrible and that the Sun Guardian would hate it."

"Hey, you don't know that, and neither do they." Kowloon knelt down to the child's height. "I think your picture's pretty great, and I'm sure the Sun Guardian will, too. Those other kids are just jealous."

She snuffled. "R-really?"

"Really. Now go on, hang it up with the others."

The girl grinned and ran off. "Big sweetheart, huh?"

"It's not like that! Just giving the kid a little hope, that's all."

"Hope, gotcha. Bye!" Before she left, a picture of a rainbow caught her eye.

She finally got to the stage. People were hard at work, and sitting in the middle of it watching everyone was Goldeneye Husky. "So you're in charge of this bit, huh?"

"Yeah, these guys need a firm paw to keep them in line."

"Have there been any problems?"

"Not so far. I think-" Suddenly there was a shriek. Looking up, both saw that a guy had slipped on his ladder and was now hanging precariously on a pillar. Both immediately ran over.

"Help!" The man cried out, clinging for his life.

"OK! Listen to me!" Goldeneye yelled up. "You need to jump! Don't worry, I'll catch you! Just have a little courage!" He held out his arms. The man took a deep breath and jumped. He landed right in Goldeneye's paws. "See? That wasn't so bad!"

"Th-thank you…"

"That was a close one! Good catch." said Sonia.

"Thanks. Like I said, all it takes is a little courage."

"I'll remember that. Is this all the pedestals?"

"No, there are still some being made. There are some architects backstage working on it, though."

"I'll check it out right now. Thanks!" Right as she was leaving, the man from earlier came forward to thank Goldeneye again. She couldn't help but notice the colorful gleam in his eye.


	6. AN

**Hey guys, DreamRiderGirl here, and I wanted to offer an explanation for why I haven't been updating. I could go with the default and say that I've been busy, but that would be a lie. There are actually three reasons. The first is, I'll admit, I'm lazy. Add that to being a procrastinator, and I can put this off for months. It's not a good habit and I'll try to fix it. The second is my memory. Whether this is a valid excuse or not is up to you but I do actually forget to upload sometimes. I'll think to do it, and then get caught up in something else. Few minutes later, and uploading completely slips my mind. The third and probably the most frustrating is writer's block. I've said before that I have a ton of ideas for stories, and I want to put them up here, but the problem is that there are some stories that need to come first, otherwise the others won't make sense. This is one of them. I already have a good idea of how this story will end and what will come after, but first needs to come what's in between the beginning and end. That's where I get stuck. Thank you to all of you who have been patient with me and stuck around this long. I promise to get better at uploading and to keep writing. In the meantime please review and suggestions are welcome. Bye!**


	7. Perserverance and Trustworhiness

**Hey guys! I was checking my traffic stats and holy crap! I've gone international! I've got readers from the U.S. to Singapore. Thank you so much, and please read, review, and favorite!**

Sure enough, backstage, marble columns were being created by skilled hands. Taking the chunks, cutting them to the right height, and carving in the designs, the pedestals were beautiful. "Hey, Banana Brain!"

Mighty Ray turned and scowled at the despised nickname. "What do you want?"

"I'm just checking on things here. So, how's it going?"

"Great. We're almost done. I'll admit, it was a little tough in the beginning. A lot of people were tired, but we had to keep going, to persevere!"

"Do you even know the meaning of that word?"

Another scowl. "Yes."

"Just making sure. Alright, I'll leave you to it." She had to admit the pedestals did have a nice colorful tint.

The last thing to check was the weather. Conditions had to be perfect for the sunrise. That meant no rain, dust, or clouds. "And according to this, Alpha Girl is supposed to be taking care of it," Sonia looked up. Only clouds in the sky. "Well, she's apparently doing a _great_ job-" Suddenly something crashed into her, knocking her straight into a mud puddle. When she looked up, she saw the leader of Second Squad grinning at her guiltily.

"Uh, sorry about that. Here, let me." She ran off, jumped up some boulders and onto a cloud that was hanging over Sonia. Then she bounced up and down on it, making it pour down rain. When she finished, Sonia was clear of mud, but soaking wet and not happy. "Oops, guess I overdid it. Hold on." Alpha Girl went and got the jet she had been working with. She whirled around Sonia with it. "My very own Jet-nado. No need to thank me, you're welcome." The she saw Sonia. Although the "Jet-nado" had succeeded in drying her, it had also made Sonia's hair poof out into a mess. Alpha Girl snorted, then burst out laughing.

"Et tu, Yaksha?" Sonia said, glaring down at the creature that had joined Alpha Girl in rolling around on the ground. "You know, you're supposed to be keeping the sky clear."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll do that after I've finished practicing."

"Practicing for what?"

"You know how the Air Force is going to be performing tomorrow? Well, I'm going to show 'em my stuff. And once they see me, they'll let me join for sure!"

"Pfft, please. They'll never accept a girl who can't keep the sky clear for one measly day!"

"Hey, I can clear this sky in ten seconds flat!"

Sonia narrowed her eyes. "Prove it."

Alpha Girl immediately took the challenge. She flew around with lightning speed, blowing apart every cloud she came in contact with. Sonia and Yaksha watched from the ground, utterly astounded by the girl's speed. "Loop-de-loop around and bam! What I'd tell you? Ten seconds flat. I'd never leave Big Green hanging. " She grinned again, while Sonia could only drop her jaw. Yaksha probably would have to, if he had a mouth. "Well, see ya! Oh, and you might want to do something about your hair. On the other hand, it's not a bad look for you." She flew off, with a rainbow glinting off the wings. Leaving Yaksha to poke at Sonia's hair.

"Yaksha!"

Sorry.


	8. Chapter 8

Later on that night, or, more specific, _very_ early in the morning, Sonia was still up, lying in her tent as she listened to the sounds of the party. Everyone in Big Green had stayed up to celebrate the summer solstice, and later, to watch the Sun Guardian raise the sun. This year was special, because for the first time in years the Sun Guardian would be appearing before the kingdom, and not just be secreted away somewhere as in past years. _Actually, now that I think about it, it's been ten years since anyone has seen him, hasn't it? _Sonia thought, turning over. She had skipped the party, despite it being uncharacteristic of her, to try to learn more about the Elements of Order. But she had found herself unable to concentrate. Thoughts of Shadow Moon and the frustration of Lin Chung just brushing it off had left her unable to do anything. Also, no one else seemed concerned at all, not worried about the fact that on this night, a demon would be returning from hell. _Maybe they just believe it really is a fairy tale, and that she's gone forever._ She herself had only been a little girl at the time of the takeover, and had felt the fear of being found, caught, and killed. She had heard the horror stories of the bodies found, just remnants after being torn apart. And she had felt the relief of when the sun finally rose, spreading light and hope. _But if she really does come back, what will she do this time?_ She was scared to think about it.

Sonia sighed, and stood up. She left the tent, and looked toward where Mt. Hima was. Just like the book said, what seemed to be the silhouette of a human was on the side. Normally, she didn't think much of it, but now, she could only feel dread. The image was silent, unmoving, as if it was… _waiting_. Waiting to attack. "'Prophecy states that on the longest day of the tenth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring the night eternal,'" Sonia whispered to herself. Was it just her imagination, or were the stars actually getting closer to the mountain? "Let's hope Lin Chung's right about it just being a fairytale," Suddenly, Yaksha tapped her shoulder, and she turned. She saw people leaving the party and walking away. Sonia looked at the sky. "Guess it's time for the sun to come up," She breathed deeply, to calm her nerves, and then started toward the stage.

Everyone else was already there when Sonia arrived. She saw some of her friends and walked over. They smiled at her before turning when the birds started to sing. _No-Hands actually managed to get the act together, good for him. _"Humans and animals, it is almost time to start the Summer Sun Celebration!" Commander Apetrully announced, and the audience cheered in response. "In just a few moments, we will witness the magic of the sunrise, and celebrate this, the longest day of the year. And now it is my great honor-" Sonia looked toward Mt. Hima again. The stars were even closer, and they went behind the mountain. The image flickered, then disappeared. Sonia gulped and turned back to Apetrully. "-to introduce to you the keeper of the light of our land, the Sun Guardian!" The birds broke into song again and Jumpy released the butterflies. The curtain was pulled back to reveal…

Nothing. No one was there. A gasp rang through the audience. "Oh no," Sonia whispered. "Keep calm everyone!" Apetrully cried. "I am sure there is a reasonable explanation…" "There's no one here!" Mr. No-Hands shouted. Another gasp. Then someone screamed. Everyone's attention turned to the balcony. More cries of horror emerged as a blue fog seeped in, rolling and coiling. Then it formed into a flesh-and-blood body. The woman that now stood had long blue hair the same color as the fog. It would probably have gone to the floor had it hung straight down. But instead it floated to the side, moving on its own. At the base of her neck there was a black collar with a silver crescent moon medallion. She wore a long strapless black dress that was parted on the left side. She also had turquoise high-heeled boots and matching gloves. Her eyes were also turquoise, but instead of a normal rounded pupil, they were thin slits. Then she grinned, revealing glistening, sharp fangs. "Ah, Hidden Kingdom, it's good to be back!" She stretched her arms over her head, smirking at the audience's horrified faces. Sonia felt Yaksha slip from her head as the poor thing fainted. "It's been so long since I've seen people like this! What, didn't you think I would come back? I always do. No one can imprison me forever. No one!" She slammed her fist down on the railing, causing it to break. "Hey, you!" Everyone turned to see Alpha Girl straining forward, only being held back by Kowloon and Archer Lee. She glared at the woman. "What did you do with the Sun Guardian?!" The woman laughed. "What's the matter? I'm not good enough?" She smirked again. "Trust me, you'll be seeing him _never_ again. But really?" She floated in midair, leaned back, and crossed her legs. "'Hey, you'? I have a name, you know. Come on, it hasn't been so long that you've forgotten my name, has it?" She sneered. "Oh, I get it. All you need is a little reminder. Very well. Let's play a game, shall we? 'What's My Name?' Who wants to play?" She looked out, but no one dared to speak. "Alright then. I choose… you!" Suddenly her hair lashed out, and a horrified gasp rang out as it coiled around Jumpy and dragged him to her. Jumpy struggled to break free, but to no avail. "Now here's how the game works. Either someone says my name, or I have a bunny appetizer. Get it?" She ran a gloved finger under Jumpy's chin and bared her fangs. "Tick tock now, I'm hungry-"

"Shadow Moon!" Everyone turned to Mystique Sonia, who, without even realizing it, had spoken out. She took a breath. "Your name is Shadow Moon." "And we have a winner!" Shadow Moon grinned, and released Jumpy, who immediately ran away. "You do remember me. So you also know why I'm here?" She looked at Sonia pointedly. "Y-you…" She couldn't say it. Shadow Moon only laughed. "Yes, enjoy this day, everyone, for it's the last. From now on, the night lasts forever!" She broke into insane laughter, as lightning flashed and thunder roared. All anyone could do was watch in fear and dread.

**To Be Continued...**


End file.
